Installing and/or removing valves for repair, reconstruction, and/or replacement in confined spaces is challenging, time consuming, and expensive. More particularly, in working with valves located between two fixed pipe spool pieces it is often necessary to remove one or both fixed pipe spool pieces to allow enough spaced to remove the valve from the pipe spool pieces.
Many times after removing the fasteners connecting the valve to the pipe spool pieces, sealing and/or other valving components resist valve removal from its longitudinal position between the two pipe spool pieces. In order to provide the necessary longitudinal space or gap to navigate the valve around and/or remove the sealing and/or other blocking components between the valve and the pipe spool pieces, sections of one or both of the pipe spool pieces are disconnected at points spaced apart from the valve itself.
Disconnecting portions of pipe spool pieces at spaced apart locations takes much effort and substantially increases the overall time to remove, repair, refurbish, replace, and/or install valves between first and second pipe spool pieces.
In prior art systems, especially in confined space type pipe spool systems, merely removing the connectors detachably connecting the valve to the pipe spool pieces does not allow the valve to be removed from its position between the pipe spool pieces without risking damage to the valve, sealing components, and/or pipe spool pieces. Moving the valve away from its position between the pipe spool piece envisions the case where the longitudinal axis of the valve is moved away from a position where its longitudinal axis is coincident with the longitudinal axis of the pipe spool pieces to a position where its longitudinal axis is spaced apart from the longitudinal axis of the pipe spool pieces.
Risk of damage to the valve, sealing components, and/or pipe spool pieces arises because typically sealing rings used to affect a seal between the connections between the valve and pipe spool pieces have a width or thickness which is not flexible enough to bend or be squeezed between the valve and pipe spool pieces such as when the valve is attempted to be moved in a lateral direction relative to the pipe spool pieces' longitudinal axis. In prior art cases, in order to safely remove a valve from between two pipe spool pieces without causing damage to the valve, sealing components, and/or pipe spool pieces, it is necessary to relocate, move, and/or remove all or part of at least one of the pipe spool pieces to provide a sufficient space between the connecting components of the valve and pipe spool pieces to allow removal of the sealing components and/or circumlocution around such sealing components.